The three will join other local musicians in donating exhibits to the show, which opened yesterday (June 20) at the Lyndon House Arts Center in Athens. According to US website [url=]www.cdnow.com, Stipe has donated four photographs and an installation to the exhibition.

The show, which runs until June 29, is aimed at “providing a showcase for the visual talents of the musicians who make Athens so famous”. In addition to the displays of photography, painting, collage and video, there will also be a number of listening posts where visitors are able to listen to the music of the artists on display.

More information on the exhibition can be found at [url=]www.artallday.com.

As reported on nme.com last week, Michael Stipe and the rest of REM have returned to a studio in Vancouver to record their twelfth album, the follow-up to 1998’s ‘Up’.

It is understood that many of the tracks are already completed, as the band started writing in Athens in February. The album will be produced by Pat McCarthy, the former Luna associate who also produced ‘Up’.

To see a selection of photographs of the band taken during their recording sessions in Vancouver, visit the official REM website at [url=]www.remhq.com.